AROHA!

Ben and I and Dave and Phath got a kick out of saying "Aroha". Alot of the tourist can't say "Aloha" so we got a few good laughs out of the saying. We just found this cute and memorable. We just got back from Hawaii last night. We will always remember where we were on election day '08. ( Of course we voted before we left! ) We had a great time in Hawaii. We went to Oahu and spent the first 4 nights in Honolulu. We walked around the beaches, went snorkeling, went to the PCC, we stopped at a great secluded beach on the way to Dave's side of the island toward Pcc. IT was amazing. The most memorable frightening experience was..... our first ride on a kayak on the open sea. (or ocean) That was a little scary for me... we wanted to go to a bay with calm waters and check out a sunken island. The cashier talked us into this other area .. what where we thinking!! After our kayak tipped twice starting out... I was a little skeptical about going out too far. I am not only afraid of bears.... but you guessed it! SHARKS!!!!!! Anyone that's been in a kayak knows how easy it is to tip. So a little panic attack on my part when I realized we were close to another island and being sucked into a current going further out to the ocean and oncoming waves. It was certainly something that I will always remember.

We ended up staying a few nights at my brother's place and were able to go back to the Pcc and see some villages. This was a lot of fun! Ben got to do a coconut dance.... so make sure and ask him to do a demonstration when you see him next. Also, Phath came and showed us around. We had already wasted 2 hours there before realizing there were actually movies and thing you were supposed to be watching at the villages. While we were also at David's we were able to go body boarding! We both fell in love.... with riding the waves. Alright... kinda! At this point in my trip three things occured to me... that I must be prepared to carry half the beach home in my swimsuit. (p.s. - make sure and invest in an underwire swimsuit as you wear it most of the day under your clothes!!) Secondly, make sure you are in front of the wave breaking while bodyboarding... and last but not least hang onto your trunks before getting out of the water.

Happy anniversary to Ben! Even though we spent our actual anniversary night on an airmatress.... it couldn't have been any better.